this moment {biggest best cottonball snow}

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are savoring this week!

Wishing you a wonderful New Year's weekend!

scenes from the holiday

Oh we are so lucky that our holiday started well before December 25th, and is lingering the next several days as we spend time at home and close to home.  Just us.  The five of us.  That rarely happens, and it is simply wonderful.

We are lingering snug in our beds.  Well some of us are lingering, while others of the little variety jump up to resume play with the treasures left by Santa.  We are eating good meals.  We are venturing out when the sun or a fun activity compels.

These are scenes of the past several days.  I hope that your holiday scenes are just as overflowing with love, laughter, family, friends and joy.

our christmas card

For my dear blogging friends, I surely wouldn't leave you off of my Christmas card list.  You just happen to get the special blog version.

Merry Christmas

from our growing family

honey, claudine, buddy, munchkin, lovey

 

Thank you for the many beautiful ways you have graced my life.  

Through your support, your perspectives, your comments and your friendship.  

I am wishing you the Merriest of Christmases.

Much love,

Claudine

celebrating solstice

 

This was our first time celebrating the winter Solstice, though I think I have always personally been aware of this day, encouraged that the light now begins to lengthen.

We spent the evening in simple, special ways:
:: making birdseed decorations for our Christmas Tree
:: dinner by candlelight, at 5:00 no less!
:: comfy new pajama pants for the kids
:: special luminaria in our living room fireplace
:: enjoying hot cocoa with peppermint sticks while reading Christmas books
:: reading the passage from Matthew 5, 13-16: in part "Let your light so shine..."

For me, Solstice was not only about the darkest day of the year, but more-so about the light that is in our lives and the light we bring to each other.

Happy Solstice my friends.  Thank you for bringing lightness to my life.

oh, christmas tree

As if on cue the snow started to fall early last weekend, giving the perfect backdrop for gathering our Christmas tree.

It has been a number of years since we've gotten to cut down a fresh pine for our Christmas tree.  For the past five years we've opted for an artificial tree because of some darn allergies of mine and Buddy's.  But we've been feeling pretty good this year, so we decided to give it a go.

I love everything about a fresh tree.  The searching, the gathering, the smell of pine in the house.

For the kids this was the first time, or the first time they could remember, getting a fresh tree, and our search was punctuated by having to repeat over and over "that one's too big, the tree needs to fit in our house."

But a spirited search soon revealed a sweet, little, nicely shaped, just tall-enough tree.

So cutting commenced.  Dragging commenced.  Tying it to the roof of the car commenced.

The kids were so excited to get the tree home, and inside, and decorated.

Too bad that within an hour of our perfect little O Tannenbaum being indoors that I realized we had made a mistake.  A big mistake.  Buddy was sneezing, I was getting a scratchy throat.

The tree had. to. go.

So, we've ended up with a sweet, little, nicely shaped, just tall enough, fresh cut tree on the patio. 

All it needs now are some birdseed decorations to make it complete.  I'll have to see about that.